Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) on Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Malabar Cancer Centre (MCC) for establishing a Cancer Care Startup Ecosystem in the State.
The MoU documents were signed and exchanged by B. Satheesan, Director, MCC and John M. Thomas, CEO, KSUM, at Infopark here.
Mr. Thomas said that a medical incubator for cancer research will bring together experts in the relevant fields to spur cross-functional innovation.
While the MCC will bring in medical expertise and awareness of biggest problems that need to be solved, the Startup Mission, which has access to the broader startup ecosystem including the IEDC network in arts, science and engineering colleges, can bring in experts and form enterprises that can solve problems. It can also provide them with required infrastructure and funding, he said.
The pact will facilitate the MCC and KSUM to bring together researchers and startups to create solutions for early detection of cancer.
Dr. Satheesan said that some cancers are very common in our part of the world, especially lung cancer and breast cancer and their incidences are actually going up. So, we want to see if we can detect them early so that curative treatments can be provided and morbidity and mortality of these cancers can be reduced," he said.
Eradication of cervical cancers is another area that the MCC wants to explore. “For that we need a state-centric approach. We need to explore if solutions like testing for cervical cancer can be brought to the doorstep, so that hospital visits and discomfort to people can be reduced,” according to Dr. Satheesan.
